* Image is for illustrative purposes only.Kasuga no Tsubone
春日局
A remarkable woman who served as the wet nurse of the third shogun Iemitsu and laid the foundation of the Ōoku——an Edo-period power player and daughter of Saitō Toshimitsu, a senior retainer of Akechi
Description
A Woman Whose Father Was a Senior Retainer of Akechi
Kasuga no Tsubone (1579–1643), whose real name was Fuku, was born as the daughter of Saitō Toshimitsu, a senior retainer of Akechi Mitsuhide. Her mother is said to have been a woman connected by kinship to Inaba Yoshimichi (Ittetsu). In Tenshō 10 (1582), after the Honnōji Incident, her father Toshimitsu was defeated at the Battle of Yamazaki and executed. Fuku grew up as “the daughter of a rebel,” relying on the connections of her mother's family. She later married Inaba Masanari, and they had children.
Wet Nurse to Tokugawa Iemitsu
Around Keichō 9 (1604), Fuku was chosen as the wet nurse of Takechiyo (later the third shogun Iemitsu), the eldest legitimate son of Tokugawa Hidetada. It is said that Iemitsu was sickly in childhood and also had a stammer. At a time when his younger brother Kunimatsu (Tadanaga) was favored, Fuku devoted herself wholeheartedly to raising Iemitsu. In the process by which Iemitsu established his position as heir to the shogunal house, Fuku's presence was a great support.
Direct Appeal to Ieyasu
Alarmed that his younger brother Kunimatsu was favored over Iemitsu, Fuku, under the pretext of a pilgrimage to Ise, is said to have traveled to Tokugawa Ieyasu at Sunpu and petitioned directly that the heir be fixed as Iemitsu. The anecdote that Ieyasu's ruling established Iemitsu's position as legitimate heir is widely told as a symbol of Fuku's courage and political skill.
Foundations of the Ōoku and the Honor of Junior Second Rank
When Iemitsu became the third shogun, Fuku became the central figure in organizing the inner quarters of Edo Castle, later known as the Ōoku. Her achievements in setting the order among the shogun's principal wife, his concubines, and the women of the inner quarters, and in laying the foundations of their operation, were great. In Kan'ei 6 (1629), in the guise of a nominal younger sister (yūmai) of Sanjōnishi Saneeda, she entered the palace, had an audience with Emperor Go-Mizunoo, and received the Junior Third Rank and the title “Kasuga no Tsubone.” Later, in Kan'ei 9 (1632), she was promoted to Junior Second Rank. That the daughter of an ordinary samurai family received such a high rank from the imperial court shows the extent of her power.
Connection to Swords
Reliable historical sources recording Kasuga no Tsubone's personal sword are scarce. Her father, Saitō Toshimitsu, was a senior retainer of Akechi known for his martial prowess, and Fuku, born into a samurai family, also stood as a samurai woman within the culture of protective kaiken daggers. Even in the Ōoku, the inner quarters of the shogunal house, the custom of women carrying protective short blades was passed down as a samurai ethic. It is thought that within the order Fuku built, the spiritual meaning carried by the sword (kaiken) also lived on.
Notable Swords
- Short sword for a warrior woman (tantō)——a self-defense sword carried from her position as a daughter born into the warrior class, specifically as the daughter of Saitō Toshimitsu, a senior retainer of Akechi. Even in the inner quarters of Edo Castle, the shogun's household, it was transmitted as a code of warrior ethics for attendant women to carry short swords for self-defense.